Falling In Love

Chapter 31 • 2007

Danny

I kept crawling and crawling and crawling until I turned the corner and was met with a dead end. I swore to myself in annoyance. As I was deciding what to do I heard a yell from behind. The man had broken free from the bin. I knew he wouldn't be able to get me as he was too big to fit in the vents but that had been our escape route. This meant I had to find Dani and get out with her another way before they locked down all the doors for the night. This also meant I had even less time than I originally thought. I started to panic and as I became suddenly aware of the fact I was in a very tight space I felt anxiety creeping up on me and I tried to push it back. I needed to concentrate and find my way out and to Dani.

I cleared my head and found a hatch off to my left. It was open so Dani must have gone this way. I squeezed through it and was plunged into darkness. Before, I'd had the occasional vent hatch in the ceiling to provide some light but now there weren't any. I slowed down as I felt my way in front of me in the black. I couldn't go too slow or I wouldn't get out or find Dani in time, but if I went too fast then I could bang into something and make a noise. I was crawling for what felt like forever until I came across an open hatch in the ceiling and figured it was where Dani had gone. I stuck my head out and checked the coast was clear then dropped down.

The corridor was long and empty with no signs to direct me. Security reasons I suppose. I took a chance and went left, then looked right and saw Dani curled up in a ball on the floor crying. I ran over and sat down next to her, hugging her tight.

"Dani, it's okay, I'm here. Hey, what's up?" I asked as she let out another snivel.

"I forgot the code so I can't get the money. If I go back without it he'll kill me but if I stay here then they'll arrest me and take me away!" She cried.

"Ssh, ssh, it's okay, no one's taking you or hurting you. Not while I'm here. We need to get out of here now. Okay?" I said giving her shoulders a squeeze. She nodded so I stood up and pulled her up with me before leading her down the corridor.

I stood below the hatch we'd come out of and noticed that the man had stopped shouting. Maybe he'd gone? Whilst I stood debating whether to risk it or not I heard some voices coming towards us and realised I didn't have much choice. I took a big jump and grabbed hold of the edge before pulling myself up. I rolled over and, pushing my legs against the sides to wedge myself in, reached my arms down to Dani. She jumped up and grabbed hold of me and I used all my strength to pull her up. I lifted her in and we held our breaths as the people walked past below us. We stayed there for a while as we caught our breaths.

"Danny, I'm scared." Dani whispered. To be honest, I was too. But not as much as Dani could have been.

"Don't worry Dani. I'm here and we're going to make it out. You're going to be fine and you can go and see your Mum-" I stopped when I remembered what had happened to Lily. What if she wasn't alright? What if Dani never saw her again? Her last memory of her would be being kidnapped and seeing her mum bleeding to death.

"Mummy's not going to make it is she." She whispered, letting out a small sob.

"Hey, you don't know that! Aleasha's with her and the hospital are going to do so much to help her. Now come on, let's keep going." I said, lifting her off my lap and starting to crawl. After a while it felt even hotter than before and I assumed it was just because I was nervous and tired. We kept crawling, stopping occasionally to catch our breath and remember which way it was, when Dani started coughing.

"Hey, are you alright?" I whispered to her.

"Yeah, my throat's just really dry. My eyes sting a bit too." She replied. I was a bit confused and realised that it was even hotter than before but then I took a sniff of the air. Dani's kidnapper had set fire to the vents.